An Act concerning cruel confinement of gestating sows, and
amending and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. For
the purposes of this section:

“Crate” means to enclose, or restrict
the movement of, a gestating sow by using a box, cage, crate, enclosure, or
enclosing device, including devices commonly referred to as gestation crates;
or the box, cage, crate, enclosure, or other enclosing device, including a
gestation crate, used to enclose, or restrict the movement of, a gestating sow.

“Farm” means the land and the
buildings, support facilities, and equipment thereon, that are wholly or
partially used for the commercial production of animals or animal products used
for food, fiber, or other goods and services. “Farm” shall not include live
animal markets at which live animals are bought and sold in the absence of any
breeding operations.

“Fully extend its limbs” means
to lift, stretch, or otherwise move the legs or tail of an animal by the
animal, to the fullest extent possible for the animal, without impediment and
touching the side or wall of a crate.

“Gestating sow” means a
pregnant domesticated pig that is kept on a farm for breeding.

“Owner or operator” means the
person who owns a farm or controls the operations of a farm in a management
capacity, but shall not include a non-management employee or a contractor or
consultant.

“Turn around freely” means to
be able to turn in a complete circle without any impediment, including a
tether, and without touching the side or wall of a crate.

b. Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 1 of P.L.1995, c.311 (C.4:22-16.1), or any rules,
regulations or standards adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary, a person
who, as the owner or operator of a farm, personally and directly, or indirectly
through directions or instructions given to a contractor, consultant or
employee of the owner or operator or the farm, crates, confines, or tethers a
gestating sow kept on the farm in a manner that prevents the animal from being
able to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, or fully extend its limbs shall
be guilty of the offense of cruel confinement of a gestating sow. No
contractor, consultant or employee of the owner or operator or the farm shall
be guilty of the offense of cruel confinement of a gestating sow if the person
is acting under the directions or instructions of the owner or operator of the
farm.

c. Cruel confinement of a
gestating sow is a disorderly persons offense. The person, in addition to any
other penalties applicable pursuant to Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes,
shall be fined for each offense not less than $250 nor more than $1,000, or be
imprisoned for a term of not more than six months, or both. Each gestating sow
that is subjected to cruel confinement shall constitute a separate offense.

d. Cruel confinement of a
gestating sow shall not include confinement for:

(4) an exhibition or
educational program, including, but not necessarily limited to, a 4-H program,
county or State fair, or rodeo;

(5) animal husbandry
purposes, provided the confinement is temporary and for no more than six hours
in any 24-hour period;

(6) humane slaughtering of
the animal in accordance with all applicable laws, and rules and regulations
adopted pursuant thereto, concerning the slaughter of animals; and

(7) proper care of the
gestating sow during the seven-day period prior to the expected date of the
gestating sow giving birth.

e. Nothing in this section
may be construed to supersede or limit the applicability of any other local,
federal, or State law, rule, or regulation protecting animal welfare, or to
prevent any governing body of a county or municipality from adopting or enacting
any ordinances, resolutions, rules or regulations concerning the protection and
welfare of animals that are more stringent than State or federal law.

f. It is not an
affirmative defense to an alleged violation of this section that the gestating
sow is domestic livestock, or was kept as part of an agricultural operation or
in accordance with customary animal husbandry or farming practices.

2. R.S.4:22-26 is amended
to read as follows:

4:22-26. A person who shall:

a. (1) Overdrive,
overload, drive when overloaded, overwork, deprive of necessary sustenance,
abuse, or needlessly kill a living animal or creature, or cause or procure, by
any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of
another living animal or creature, any such acts to be done;

(2) Torment, torture, maim,
hang, poison, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, or needlessly mutilate a living
animal or creature, or cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means,
including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or
creature, any such acts to be done;

(3) Cruelly kill, or cause
or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not limited to
through the use of another living animal or creature, the cruel killing of, a
living animal or creature, or otherwise cause or procure, by any direct or
indirect means, including but not limited to through the use of another living
animal or creature, the death of a living animal or creature from commission of
any act described in paragraph (2) of this subsection;

b. (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2003, c.232).

c. Inflict unnecessary
cruelty upon a living animal or creature, by any direct or indirect means,
including but not limited to through the use of another living animal or
creature; or unnecessarily fail to provide a living animal or creature of which
the person has charge either as an owner or otherwise with proper food, drink,
shelter or protection from the weather; or leave it unattended in a vehicle
under inhumane conditions adverse to the health or welfare of the living animal
or creature;

d. Receive or offer for
sale a horse that is suffering from abuse or neglect, or which by reason of
disability, disease, abuse or lameness, or any other cause, could not be
worked, ridden or otherwise used for show, exhibition or recreational purposes,
or kept as a domestic pet without violating the provisions of this article;

e. Keep, use, be connected
with or interested in the management of, or receive money or other
consideration for the admission of a person to, a place kept or used for the
purpose of fighting or baiting a living animal or creature;

f. Be present and witness,
pay admission to, encourage, aid or assist in an activity enumerated in
subsection e. of this section;

g. Permit or suffer a
place owned or controlled by him to be used as provided in subsection e. of
this section;

h. Carry, or cause to be
carried, a living animal or creature in or upon a vehicle or otherwise, in a
cruel or inhumane manner;

i. Use a dog or dogs for
the purpose of drawing or helping to draw a vehicle for business purposes;

j. Impound or confine or
cause to be impounded or confined in a pound or other place a living animal or
creature, and shall fail to supply it during such confinement with a sufficient
quantity of good and wholesome food and water;

k. Abandon a maimed, sick,
infirm or disabled animal or creature to die in a public place;

l. Willfully sell, or
offer to sell, use, expose, or cause or permit to be sold or offered for sale,
used or exposed, a horse or other animal having the disease known as glanders
or farcy, or other contagious or infectious disease dangerous to the health or
life of human beings or animals, or who shall, when any such disease is beyond
recovery, refuse, upon demand, to deprive the animal of life;

m. Own, operate, manage or
conduct a roadside stand or market for the sale of merchandise along a public
street or highway; or a shopping mall, or a part of the premises thereof; and
keep a living animal or creature confined, or allowed to roam in an area
whether or not the area is enclosed, on these premises as an exhibit; except
that this subsection shall not be applicable to: a pet shop licensed pursuant
to P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19-15.1 et seq.); a person who keeps an animal, in a
humane manner, for the purpose of the protection of the premises; or a
recognized breeders' association, a 4-H club, an educational agricultural
program, an equestrian team, a humane society or other similar charitable or
nonprofit organization conducting an exhibition, show or performance;

n. Keep or exhibit a wild
animal at a roadside stand or market located along a public street or highway
of this State; a gasoline station; or a shopping mall, or a part of the
premises thereof;

o. Sell, offer for sale,
barter or give away or display live baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or
rabbits, turtles or chameleons which have been dyed or artificially colored or
otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color;

p. Use any animal, reptile,
or fowl for the purpose of soliciting any alms, collections, contributions,
subscriptions, donations, or payment of money except in connection with
exhibitions, shows or performances conducted in a bona fide manner by
recognized breeders' associations, 4-H clubs or other similar bona fide
organizations;

q. Sell or offer for sale,
barter, or give away living rabbits, turtles, baby chicks, ducklings or other
fowl under two months of age, for use as household or domestic pets;

r. Sell, offer for sale,
barter or give away living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl, or rabbits,
turtles or chameleons under two months of age for any purpose not prohibited by
subsection q. of this section and who shall fail to provide proper facilities
for the care of such animals;

s. Artificially mark sheep
or cattle, or cause them to be marked, by cropping or cutting off both ears,
cropping or cutting either ear more than one inch from the tip end thereof, or
half cropping or cutting both ears or either ear more than one inch from the
tip end thereof, or who shall have or keep in the person's possession sheep or
cattle, which the person claims to own, marked contrary to this subsection
unless they were bought in market or of a stranger;

t. Abandon a domesticated
animal;

u. For amusement or gain,
cause, allow, or permit the fighting or baiting of a living animal or creature;

v. Own, possess, keep,
train, promote, purchase, or knowingly sell a living animal or creature for the
purpose of fighting or baiting that animal or creature;

w. Gamble on the outcome of
a fight involving a living animal or creature;

x. Knowingly sell or
barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, the fur or hair of
a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the fur or
hair of a domestic dog or cat, unless such fur or hair for sale or barter is
from a commercial grooming establishment or a veterinary office or clinic or is
for use for scientific research;

y. Knowingly sell or
barter or offer for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human
consumption, the flesh of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or
in part from the flesh of a domestic dog or cat;

z. Surgically debark or
silence a dog in violation of section 1 or 2 of P.L.2002, c.102 (C.4:19-38 or
C.4:19-39);

aa. Use a live pigeon, fowl
or other bird for the purpose of a target, or to be shot at either for
amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, except that this subsection
and subsections bb. and cc. shall not apply to the shooting of game;

bb. Shoot at a bird used as
described in subsection aa. of this section, or is a party to such shooting; [or]

cc. Lease a building, room,
field or premises, or knowingly permit the use thereof for the purposes of
subsection aa. or bb. of this section; or

dd. Confine a gestating
sow in a manner that prevents the animal from being able to turn around freely,
lie down, stand up, or fully extend its limbs, except as may be required for
(1) medical research, (2) veterinary examination, testing, individual
treatment, or an operation, (3) transportation of the animal, (4) an exhibition
or educational program, (5) animal husbandry purposes, provided the confinement
is temporary and for no more than six hours in any 24-hour period, (6) humanely
slaughtering of the animal in accordance with the laws, and rules and
regulations adopted pursuant thereto, concerning the slaughter of animals, and
(7) proper care during the seven-day period prior to the expected date of the
gestating sow giving birth --

Shall forfeit and pay a sum according
to the following schedule, to be sued for and recovered, with costs, in a civil
action by any person in the name of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals or a county society for the prevention of cruelty to
animals, as appropriate, or, in the name of the municipality if brought by a
certified animal control officer or animal cruelty investigator:

For a violation of subsection
e., f., g., u., v., w., or z. of this section or of paragraph (3) of subsection
a. of this section, or for a second or subsequent violation of paragraph (2) of
subsection a. of this section, a sum of not less than $3,000 nor more than
$5,000;

For a violation of subsection
l. of this section or for a first violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of
this section, a sum of not less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000;

For a violation of subsection
x. or y. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for
each domestic dog or cat fur or fur or hair product or domestic dog or cat carcass
or meat product;

For a violation of subsection
t. of this section, a sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, but if
the violation occurs on or near a highway, a mandatory sum of $1,000;

For a violation of subsection
c., d., h., j., k., aa., bb., [or] cc., or dd. of
this section or of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, a sum of not
less than $250 nor more than $1,000; and

For a violation of subsection
i., m., n., o., p., q., r., or s. of this section, a sum of not less than $250
nor more than $500.

(cf: P.L.2005, c.372, s.16)

3. This act shall take
effect one year after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the
animal cruelty offense of cruel confinement of a gestating sow as a disorderly
persons offense. The bill defines cruel confinement of a gestating sow as
crating, confining, or tethering a gestating sow kept on the farm in a manner
that prevents the gestating sow from being able to turn around freely (as
defined in the bill), lie down, stand up, or fully extend its limbs (as also
defined in the bill).

The bill specifies that an
owner or operator of a farm may commit this offense, personally and directly,
or indirectly through directions or instructions to a contractor, consultant or
employee of the owner or operator or the farm, but that a contractor,
consultant, or employee following such directions or instructions would not be
guilty of the offense. In addition to any other penalties applicable pursuant
to Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes, the bill provides that a violator would
be fined for each offense not less than $250 nor more than $1,000, or be
imprisoned for a term of not more than six months, or both, and that each
gestating sow that is cruelly confined would be a separate offense.

The bill exempts from
consideration as cruel confinement of a gestating sow, confinement for the
purposes of:

1) medical research;

2) veterinary examinations,
testing, individual treatment, or an operation, or other veterinary procedures;

3) transportation of the
animal;

4) a exhibition or
educational program;

5) animal husbandry,
provided the confinement is temporary and for no more than six hours in any
24-hour period;

6) humane slaughtering of
the animal in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations
concerning the slaughter of animals; and

7) proper care of the
animal during the seven-day period prior to the expected date of the animal
giving birth.

Finally, the bill specifies
that:

1) none of the bill’s
provisions supersede other laws, rules or regulations protecting animal
welfare, or abridge the authority of any county or municipality to make such
laws, rules or regulations that are more stringent than State or federal laws;
and

2) it is not an affirmative
defense to an alleged violation of this bill that the gestating sow is domestic
livestock, or was kept as part of an agricultural operation or in accordance
with customary animal husbandry or farming practices.